Friday, May 31, 2013

Klove Fan Awards!

     
     This morning I was driving to the hospital to get three hours of volunteering done. I switched the radio to 96.7 FM, which is Klove. The fan awards started today and will go on till June 2nd. The two people in lobby were broadcasting with Hawk Nelson aka "Johnny". The laughter of them made me smile. When I came out after three hours of volunteering I turned it on again and this time it was the Rhett Walker Band. This whole day they've been talking with artists, and it has been great listening and laughing along with them. So, come on! Join me as I listen to Klove the next few days...to their concerts..and the red-carpet event, which is tomorrow night,. The link below goes to the the Fan Awards page and you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook: (you can vote here till tonight) https://www.facebook.com/KLoveFanAwards?fref=ts

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! - Psalm 100:1-2

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Thoughts...on protection!

     This afternoon I was checking my emails...and one caught my eye. It was from the blog Lies Young Women Believe, a blog written by a group of women, mostly for an audience of young ladies (such as myself). This past week they have been writing the posts all on guys. The author of the posts is actually Dannah Gresh, who wrote get lost (the book which my last post was written on). Today's post struck me the most...
     It is based on the question: Does He Protect Your Purity? I can't answer the question right now, because I haven't met my prince yet, but in the future I'd like to think that the answer would be YES. Dannah talks about sex trafficking and rape in this post and at first I wondered what she was getting at.   
     Dannah then writes something that explains where she is going with all this sad talk about the disrespect of men who rape girls. "God's very definition of sex transcends the physical act and emphasizes the emotional knowing and exchange of respect that is the essence of His intended design." Real men respect women. Some men don't like the idea of protecting women and frankly, I don't know why. As a christian brother, you are supposed to step up and protect and respect your sisters. No matter what girl/woman you face you're supposed to act in integrity. But, we can't leave women out either. As christian sisters, we are to respect our brothers and future husbands with modest clothes and a modest attitude, which includes how you present yourself. If you would like to view this post please follow this link: http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=2023.
     So sisters, next time you think about the young man you gave your heart to...ask yourself if he protects your purity. And brothers, remember "Real men don't buy girls...they protect them." "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." - Romans 12:10 (NLT)  
     A part of my personal life does tie in: Currently my family supports a young girl named Sabani, who is from Odisha. She resides in a place called House of Refuge, which is run by a missionary family. House of Refuge  is a place for girls only, who are poor and unable to get an education through their families. Since they are poor they are also in danger of being sold into sexual slavery or prostitution. One of the saddest things is temple prostitution (to read an article about this click here). 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

get lost.

     I recently received a copy of a get lost: Your Guide to Finding True Love by Dannah Gresh. When I picked it up off the bookshelf I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into.
     I had gone into the hospital to volunteer that day and I had just finished signing out to head back home. The lady at the front desk saw me and called me over. She told me there was a book vender just down the hall. (I later found out that she thought I would like it because she always saw me carrying around a book with me..haha..that's definitely true!). So, without any hesitation I walked down the short hall to where she was. She smiled when I walked over to look at some of the books she had on the shelves near her...of course, I smiled back. 
     Her name was Lucy and she started telling me why she was here. Her parents had lost their house in the tornado that just ravished a part of Oklahoma that past week. She was raising money to send down there for her parents and other various families that she had met. She was charging just five dollars for any book on the shelves she had there. Most of the books were fantasy, non-fiction, and modern-day love stories, but there was a small part of the christian genre and I was drawn there immediately. 
     I had already given five dollars to her and whether or not I was actually going to take a book was dependent on the books she had that I would actually read. I'm not a fantasy person, and the non-fiction books looked boring, and the modern-day love stories are too graphic, so I only looked at the christian books really. There were about fifteen christian books and I scanned the names. The title get lost popped out right away. I smiled as I pulled it out, it was such a weird and unique title. I read the first sentence, which is:                    
                                     This is a book about God...
                                                   ...and guys...
                                                               ...and how we get them mixed up. 
     I smiled, I couldn't resist. It was certainly gripping...haha. I scanned the summary on the back cover. One sentence (in green) stuck out:
Discover how to get so lost in God 
that a guy has to seek HIM to find you. 
     That did it for me! Without hesitation I walked over and told her I had found the book I was taking. She put my name in her notebook along with the book I was taking, and then thanked me. I smiled one last time...and walked away. 
     Two good things came out of that meeting: I had given money to the families in Oklahoma and I had a chance to get lost in God. I haven't finished the book, but it has been such a blessing so far. I'm getting lost and I love it! 


Friday, May 17, 2013

God Still Performs Miracles..

I was driving to the hospital this morning, on my way to volunteer. The radio was on 96.7 (Klove here in West Hempstead). The "morning show" was playing with the three regular announcers. This morning there was a guest singer, his name was Aaron Shust. I was so happy and excited to hear what he was going to talk about. Then one of the announcers asked him about his oldest son and what came next was a complete surprise to me.
Sometimes it can be a bit hard to think of famous people living a normal life, not that Aaron has a normal life. Far from it actually. Aaron has a wonderful wife and three young boys who he loves very much. The eldest son was miraculously healed the other day from esophagitis, a disease in which the child could no longer swallow food and was on a feeding tube. They were in the hospital and nurses came into the room just because they felt peace inside the little boys room. Aaron was so thankful for the healing and all his wife could do was smile in utter joy.

There 18 month old son was born with Down Syndrome and almost full deafness in both ears. Just a few months ago Aaron's wife took a trip to New York to attend a prayer conference and took the little boy with her. She brought the boy up to the front to be prayed with. The next morning she called Aaron, and while crying told him that she had just called to the little boy from across the room and he had turned his head in response to his name. I missed the ending of the second boys recovery, but the story of this singer was truly a blessing. God can still perform miracles today. It can be easy to see it in this post, but everyday he performs a miracle in your life. That miracle is life. 
God Bless you all! 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Motherhood..

This past sunday was Mother's Day, as all of you know (or I hope so). 
I know a lot of friends (mostly from college) that don't want to be mothers..at all! 
I can't believe it...and I don't understand...
So, I'm going to write a bit about the subject, even though I myself am not a mother. 

Have you ever looked at a Mother who holds her newborn baby? 
A look of pure joy and love envelopes her face, as tears of happiness swim down her face. 
Relief floods the room...

I myself can not wait till I hold a child of my own in my hands...
It's been a hope of mine since I was a child, holding baby dolls...
I can not wait to cradle a crying baby who is part of me...even if the cries pierce the silence.
I want to laugh and cry with my children...
I want to sit on the floor and pray with them...
I want to hold them in my arms and cherish them...
Most of all I want to tell all about my wonderful saviour..

And maybe it isn't God's plan for me to be a mother one day, but
it hasn't dampened my hopes and dreams yet..and it never will (there is always adoption..).

So, motherhood may not be an easy job, but it has the best reward possible. 
Children are a GIFT from God, don't ever forget that!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

What makes a house, a home.



A home isn't made with carpets, windows, and couches.
It isn't made with bookshelves, dressers, or books.
It isn't made with the music playing throughout, the beds, or by the "welcome" signs.






A home is an empty building filled with people who love each other.
It may not be comfy, or even furnished completely. 
It may be the smallest building on the block.
But, the people inside fill the building..making it a home.
There hopes, dreams, and joy make the house a home.  



                  So, let us remember to thank God that he gives us homes instead of houses! 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Never take them for granted..

One of my friends lives about 850 miles away (depending on which route you take) near Chicago, IL. We have become pretty good friends regardless of how faraway we live from each other. On google+ I have made quite a few friends like that. They all go to church regularly and post encouraging thoughts..and sometimes funny things too. 
Wondering why I said that??
I was looking at some posts that I've read lately. One of them (a quote) caught my attention: 
"Never take someone for granted.
Hold every person close to your heart
because you might wake up one day
and realize that you've lost a diamond
while you were too busy collecting stones...
I admit that indeed I have taken people for granted, more times than I'd like to admit. I think we all do, and thats the saddest part. We just assume that when we wake up our family and friends are still going to be alive, or even if they're going to still be our friends. So, when I read this I questioned myself a lot. I wondered what life would be like without the people I care about most. It wasn't a very nice picture. One of the students in my philosophy class this last semester  told us how she had lost her whole immediate family in a fire at their house. She had just assumed that at 11:00pm, when she came home after a long day at college/work that they'd be there, but they weren't. It happened two years ago and she told us how hard it had to been to stop blaming herself. I couldn't imagine the despair and grief she must have suffered, but it could happen to any of us. 
So keep those diamonds safe even though they may have hard edges, 
because you don't want to lose them while looking for smooth, appealing stones. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

It's that time again..

The smell of old and new books mix together as I open the glass door..what a good draft of smell to walk into. The Library. The room where silence rules and squeaking exists (at least in this one it does). The chairs are the most comfy in the school if you know where to go and the computers are the oldest, but definitely the least likely to break down (hence I'm using one). The most comforting thing about libraries are the books though, rows and rows, and stacks of...knowledge..help..and adventure. 
Finals week is fast approaching, it's next week. I have one paper due and three in-class finals. I would appreciate it if you guys would pray for me as I study and test. Tonight is also our college concert, which I'm really excited for. So, ta-ta for now...and thanks for the prayers.